Cabot and Associates, Wednesday

[glasses_justice]

Alex needed to replace the whiskey in her desk. It could wait until she'd finished writing up this report. Maybe she'd swing by on her lunch break.

Her priorities were shot to hell, but she liked them anyway.

(OCD-free)

Comments

[stocksgrrl]

When she had a break in between her classes today, Turtle had some business to take care of, so she was hurrying over to the office and looking forward to getting gross crappy ugly uniforms out of her head for a moment.

"Knock, knock!" she called, to go along with her actual, physical knocking. "Got a moment, Miss Cabot?"

[glasses_justice]

"Always," Alex said, sitting up and pushing her laptop away. "Here to confer on important legal matters, or just my sparkling conversation?"

[stocksgrrl]

"None of the above," Turtle answered, "though with a slight chance of either. I actually wanted to come see you about maybe shifting when I come in. New semester and everything, so a lot of things shift a little, and Mondays are being way too profitable for the store for me to avoid being away from it too long. So I was thinking maybe Fridays instead, if that works with you."

[glasses_justice]

"It's fine by me," Alex said. "Fridays are usually dead here, so it may not be all that exciting. You know, compared to the hustle-and-bustle of Mondays."

[stocksgrrl]

"Well, hey," Turtle said with a grin, "maybe I can actually get some work done for a chance."

[glasses_justice]

"It is hard finding time for it," Alex joked. "What with all the paparazzi swarming around. I tried telling them that I'm just a lawyer, and I need my privacy, but you see how well that's working."

[stocksgrrl]

Turtle ceased the teasing for a moment as her head tilted in actual interest. "Did that happen to you a lot?" she had to ask. "A lot of paparazzi pestering you about cases and stuff?"

[glasses_justice]

"Not typically," Alex reassured her. "Some cases turn into a three-ring circus, and it's usually a nightmare when that happens. Usually either a famous victim or defendant, or something that involves racial tension in the city. The media makes everything into a powder keg. You're better just answering a few questions and referring everyone back to the court record."

[stocksgrrl]

"Man," Turtle sighed a little, "I'd love a case like that. I mean, the Westing Case was pretty big, but it was Westingtown big, and it's not like there's paparazzi crawling around Westingtown, Wisconsin, you know?"

[glasses_justice]

"You only think that now," Alex said, giving Turtle a wry smile. "I had a case where a young Latino boy -- only six or seven -- shot and killed an African-American classmate, a girl. All the evidence said that it was an accident, that the boy had been in the wrong place at the wrong time and had ended up with a gun because his sitter's grandson was a drug runner, and he'd witnessed a murder while his parents were at the hospital with his baby sister. We dropped the charges, in the interest of justice. And all some people could see was that a Latino boy was allowed to kill an African-American girl, with no recriminations, and that minority children weren't considered as important as white children. It only got worse from there."

[stocksgrrl]

There was a bit of an awkward pause at that.

"Yeah," Turtle said, "this is where I point out that this is why I'm going into business law..."

[glasses_justice]

"I miss prosecution," Alex said. "Even with all of the sleepless nights and bodies and living victims. I was making a difference."

She raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I know. I got through law school and I'm still that idealistic. Go figure."

[stocksgrrl]

"That means there's still hope for me, too, then, right?" Turtle said with a small smile.

[glasses_justice]

"I'd believe it," Alex smiled. "Corporate law for you, and lots of publicity, huh?"

[stocksgrrl]

"I think," Turtle said, with the slightest of sight, "that's what I'd be really good at. I like the spotlight; I like being a public figure that people look to as a sign of strength and a source of help."

[glasses_justice]

"Then go with that," Alex said. "Remember your ethics, and justice, and walk the tightrope carefully when what you're asked to do and what's right don't live on the same city block. You're a smart kid, you'll figure it out."